A little free section from the new book 😉
Virtual economies are not as common an addition to a gamified system, but I wanted to include a little bit about them. Virtual economies can be based entirely in the virtual world, or can break that barrier and have some effect on the real world, depending on how they are designed. If you consider points and badges, they are a type of virtual currency, though they have no real world value, in the system they represent effort and skill. If that virtual currency can then be used to purchase virtual goods, you being to have an actual economy. For example, many games allow you to collect coins or points and then exchange them for in game goods. For example, Fallout Shelter from Bethseda. As you play the game, you earn bottle caps – the in game currency. Those bottle tops can then be used to purchase new rooms for your shelter.
